1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to spinning style fishing reels, and more particularly, to spin casting style fishing reels having a dual bearing support system for the main crank shaft. This system enables the crank shaft to be placed into position by only opening the back part of the fishing reels. The bearings are mounted at the extremities of the fishing reel thus providing maximum support.
2. Background of the Prior Art
In small size spin casting style fishing reels, the mounting of the main bearing crank shaft within the reel has always been a problem. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,510 the main shaft and the drive gear are mounted within a U-shaped saddle providing either single or double bearing support. A retainer strap with one or more screws is required to hold the bearing in place. This method has not proved satisfactory because in order to clamp the bearing in place some bearings and/or bearing materials will be deformed by the retainer thus causing the bearing to be tight on the shaft making the fishing reel crank difficult to turn and causing excessive wear. This particular arrangement also requires an excessive number of parts.
Single bearing crank shaft mounting is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,991,957 where the support is a molded bearing that is part of a deck plate. Similar arrangements are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,020,665; 3,020,666; 3,041,002; 3,059,873; and 3,105,651. Other single bearing forms are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,469,799; 3,778,001; and 3,970,263.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,092 a dual type of crank shaft support system is depicted using the clamping strap feature of U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,510. The dual support system as described can also clamp the bearings too tightly if very precise and costly manufacturing techniques are not used.
Thus, in all the prior art crank shaft support devices, obvious defects and deficiencies exist such as:
(1) too many parts; PA1 (2) costly manufacturing techniques are required; PA1 (3) excess wear on parts; PA1 (4) bearing distortion; PA1 (5) moment of inertia problems because of single bearing mounts; and, PA1 (6) just poor design.